Callum Hoskin
Senior Member
SF Studio Strings V CSS??? - Opinions
A question that needs discussing!!!
A question that needs discussing!!!
SF Studio Strings V CSS??? - Opinions
A question that needs discussing!!!
a better comparison would be vs LASS
This is a direct CSS competitor. There's 30 musicians here, compared to 35 in CSS (and 28 in Berlin). The intro price is also exactly the same as CSS's price so... y'know... doesn't seem like coincidence...
Except, on the other hand, you get so much more than CSS at the same price. Six mic positions instead of three, extended techniques, true sordinos, sul tasto and sul pont, trills beyond half/whole.
The size flexibility is killer. You have a 30-piece string orchestra with divisi in every section (except basses). You have two choices for 17-piece ensembles, which competes with SCS and Light&Sound. And you can combine the half and full size sections (and there are already NKIs that bake everything in, which saves you enormously on RAM) to get a 60 piece orchestra that weighs in with Hollywood Strings, Spitfire Symphonic Strings, and LASS. So while sticking with the studio sound, it competes in the chamber sized, studio sized and Hollywood sized arenas.
Except except, on the other other hand... the longs seem to have 3 dynamic layers (4 in CSS), there are only 2 lengths of short notes (4 in CSS), and there's only one set of legato transitions (quite fast) plus portamento (3+port in CSS). And overall, the sound seems more reserved while CSS feels "musical" in every note. I skimmed through the videos and demos and nothing about this string sound really blew me away the way I remember first hearing the CSS demos (and when I use them every day!). It's more like Spitfire's other libraries: very neutral, and therefore very usable and flexible.
I think this is gonna be an interesting addition to all the options for strings. Looking forward to user reviews!
Only on the patches that feature legato. Our legatos are always locked though!The Kontakt editing for this lib is locked.(As is for CSS if I remember correctly.)